Misdialing Death
by 88mph
Summary: Shinigami-sama has an annoying new project and needs a volunteer or two. The two unlucky volunteers have enough trouble as is. Now Uzumaki Naruto and Harry Potter are trying to find out who kidnapped them from their worlds. Naruto thinks the sun is going to eat them, and Harry thinks magic ninjas don't exist; together, they fight evil. But who is the meister and who is the weapon?
1. Chapter 1

Misdialing Death

Shinigami-sama got off his once in a decade conference call with the council of shinigami and reapers of other realities. His shoulders hunched as he brought his dinner-plate-sized hands to rub at his temples. He'd gotten himself stuck with a project again. He so hated these meetings, they always suckered him into something annoying.

"Oh well, no point in bellyaching about it. Let's look at potential candidates," he said with a chirp. A wave of his hand in front of the tall mirror in his room made it light up and begin to show him different faces. As each face passed by, Shinigami-sama muttered to himself the pros and cons of the individual. It was hours later when his crooked hat had slipped down over his sweating brow that he gave up. "Dash it all, I just have to settle!"

And with that the cosmic power personified made some gestures, screwing around with causality in two realities away from his own. Satisfied with his work he cracked his neck and yelled for his Death Scythe to get him a drink to kick back with. While he raged at his Death Scythe being absent again, two poor bastards worlds away got a nasty surprise.

(scene break)

Uzumaki Naruto had been haphazardly packing his things to leave on a three-year training mission with Jiraiya of the Sannin. He was both excited and a little anxious for what was coming. On one hand he would be learning 'awesome jutsus,' one the other hand he would be away from his Sakura-chan; just when it looked like she was beginning to warm to him.

He ran into his bathroom to grab his toothbrush when he noticed it. He hadn't taken a shower but somehow the mirror over the sink was fogged up. He pulled aside the shower curtain but the stall was dry. He peered at the misted mirror suspiciously and saw writing on it.

"What?" he groused to himself in annoyance. "42-42-564 when you want to knock on death's door? Who the Hell wants to knock on - HEY!" The mirror suddenly bulged out like a bubble and caught Naruto in itself. Then deflated like a balloon, while swallowing the Hokage-wannabe.

The Toad Sannin showed up an hour later to lay into the boy for keeping him waiting. He found an apartment with things strewn about as if a struggle had taken place in it. He had no way of knowing that was how it tended to look when Naruto prepared for an out-of-village mission. Be that as it may, he came to the correct conclusion that Naruto had been kidnapped.

Fear gripped him for the boy's safety and the fact that Tsunade was going to pummel him for not protecting Naruto.

(Scene break)

Harry Potter had just saved his ungrateful cousin's life from a pair of Dementors. He was currently numbly holding a letter from the Ministry of Magic, while his aunt and uncle yelled at him. His wand was to be snapped and he was expelled from Hogwarts.

_No,_ he wailed in his mind, _I won't let them._ He hurried away from his relatives planning on getting his things and running before the Ministry's aurors arrived. An owl swooped and dropped a letter on his head as he ran up the flight of stairs to his room. Harry grabbed it, noting the strange seal on it. It looked like a bowling ball with three spiked teeth coming off of it - either that or it's a cartoon skull, he thought.

Slamming closed the door to his bedroom behind him, Harry tore open the letter. Inside he found a fogged up handheld mirror. Carefully holding the mirror by the paper of the envelope, Harry set it on his desk. "What in Merlin's name is this?" he mused with great suspicion. The misadventure with portkeys at the end of his last year had taught him to be careful of strange objects. Yet, he was spellbound as characters appeared on the surface as if someone was writing them with a finger: 42-42-564 when you want to knock on death's door. "Is this a Deatheater threat?!"

The mirror suddenly expanded to the size of a vanity mirror and grew a mouth. Harry snapped out his wand to curse the damned thing. Sadly, with eldritch speed, the mirror leapt off the desk at him and ate him. Harry's wand clattered to the floor, the mirror seemed to regard it for a moment, but then let out a loud burp and disappeared.

Two more letters arrived from Order members but they remained unopened. Late that night when the Order guard arrived they found the house empty of the Boy-Who-Lived. His wand was recovered from his bedroom as was the envelope with the strange and comical skull seal.

The Order concluded that Harry had been kidnapped as he would never leave without his wand. Snape decided that Harry, in a pique borne of teenage angst, had turned his back on the wizarding world (and good riddance). The Ministry put out a press release entitled The-Boy-Who-Went-Rogue.

…Or Rogue-Who-Lived as Witch Weekly preferred. _That_ exalted publication juicily reported that a certain French part-Veela had seduced their straight-laced hero away.

(Scene break)

In the desert plains outside Death City they appeared out of thin air, rocketing towards each other. Their foreheads smashed against each other and they fell to the ground with yelps of pain.

Naruto rubbed his head but recovered sooner as he had been wearing his protector. He leapt up and got into a fighting stance but only found the boy who he had collided with. The boy was still on the ground rubbing his head furiously. Naruto took a moment to look around and found that he was nowhere near Konoha. To his knowledge there weren't any deserts near his village or even in Fire County. Maybe he'd ended up in Wind Country-but how?

"Oi!" He called obnoxiously. "Did you bring me here with a time-space jutsu? If you did I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"What?" the other boy hissed in pain and stood up. "Bloody Hell! It was a portkey, I can't believe I fell for it again." Naruto noted the boy was slightly taller than him and instantly took a dislike to him. But, Naruto noted, he did have a cool lightning shaped scar on his head. Naruto was suddenly insanely jealous of the boy's battle scar.

"Hey! Hey! Answer me before I beat you up. I don't care if you have that cool scar, it won't stop me." Naruto crossed his arms and tried to look intimidating by narrowing his eyes.

The bespectacled boy blinked slowly at him. "What was the question again?" he asked, as he began looking around for something on the desert floor.

"Rude!" Naruto pointed a finger at the boy. "I asked if you did a time-space jutsu to bring me here."

The other boy cursed under his breath as he failed to find what he was looking for. "No I didn't do a time-space jutsu, whatever that is. I think it was a…nevermind." Naruto didn't failed to notice the suspicious look the boy shot his way. "So did you just get transported from a different place too?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was in my bathroom, and the mirror burst in a bubble and brought me here," Naruto shared. "Creepy ninjutsu."

"Ninjutsu? What's that," The boy asked warily. "Something like that happened to me too."

"Ehhhh? You mean you don't know what ninjutsu is? It's only the most amazing thing in the world after ramen!" Naruto chortled. "Look, see!" He brought his hands together in a cross seal and suddenly multiplied.

The other boy looked at the shadow clones in shock, his green eyes widened behind his glasses. "Wow, that's an amazing spell," he said as he pooked a Naruto clone near him. "So you're a wizard too, should've said something, mate. I was afraid of breaking the statue of secrecy there. Where are you from, I haven't ever seen magic like this before?"

Naruto smiled largely and rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed gesture at the praise. "Yeah, I'm pretty cool. Wait, I'm not a wizard, I'm a ninja."

The boy looked at him with a skeptical brow raised. Nauto felt like punching the kid, he hated being looked down on. "Idiot, I just showed you a ninja technique. You're probably a civilian, so you thought it was magic."

The boy scowled at him and said, "I'm not an idiot, this sure looks like magic. So you're a ninja."

"Yup, and you're a wizard," Naruto answered happily before a pensive expression settled on his face. "Um, what does a wizard do, I've never met one before."

"Uh, nothing really, it's just…a silly term." The boy laughed nervously.

"Ehhh?" Naruto groused. "Whatever, don't tell me if you don't want to. I showed you a cool jutsu too. I just wanted to see magic."

"Well if you want to see some, help me look for my wand," the boy snapped.

Naruto grinned and jumped in the air with a punch. "Alright! Everyone look for - err, what's your name? I'm Naruto."

"Harry," said the boy. "Nice to meet you. It's a stick around eleven inches long."

"Nice to meet you too," Naruto said, surprised and happy at the polite introduction. People usually weren't civil around him. "I'll make some more shadow clones. Hey, looks for Harry's wand."

One more seal and one large cloud of chakra later, the desert was covered in Narutos. Harry just gaped at the sight as the boys clad in orange started looking around on the cracked earth.

After a few minutes the clones began dispelling. Naruto shot his new acquaintance a defeated look. "Sorry, Harry, I didn't find it."

"Forget about it, I probably dropped it when the mirror ate me." He sighed and thrust out his hand. "Accio wand!" he shouted and waited, but nothing happened. "It was worth a shot."

"Argh!" Naruto screamed, startling Harry. "What the Hell! Harry look at the sky!" And with that Naruto jumped behind the taller boy, using him as a shield against the monster in the sky.

"Holy…" Harry gasped. "Is that…a smiling sun? It's laughing…Why didn't we hear it laughing?"

"Wah! Why are you so calm, there's a monster in the sky!" Naruto yelled. He was surprised to hear Harry chuckle.

"I'm not really that calm but weird things happen to me all the time. Besides he looks harmless, he's just up there laughing," Harry said as he looked over his shoulder at Naruto.

"You're weird," Naruto protested. "It's going to eat us, look at its teeth."

"Anyway," Harry said. "Looks like someone kidnapped us both and brought us here. In my experience it's best not to stand around gift-wrapped for your enemies. We should get out of here and try to find our way home."

Naruto looked at the boy in amazement. He was talking like some experienced jounin, casually looking at freaky stuff and keeping his cool. Naruto gritted his teeth, he was a ninja, _he_ was the one supposed to be cool like Kakashi-sensei. This nerd with glasses was upstaging him.

"Don't worry, Uzumaki Naruto is here! I will destroy all our enemies!" he yelled jumping out of the other boy's shadow. Just at that moment the maniacal sun gave a louder laugh than usual. Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin in his hurry to get behind Harry.

The boy chuckled. "You were saying?"

"Oi! I don't care what you say, you idiot wizard. That demon sun is out to get us," Naruto complained sheepishly.

"Right, well, I can see something in the distance that might be buildings. Let's head that way," he suggested.

(scene break)

Harry had been trying to maintain his cool in the situation. Despite what he had told Naruto, he was anxious. Not having his wand on him made him feel terribly vulnerable, and Naruto himself worried him. The boy, who seemed to be around his age, was capable of wandless magic, no matter what he called it. To Harry's knowledge there weren't any ninjas, and if there were wizard ninjas he expected he'd have heard of it. Then again, maybe Hermione knew of them and had failed to mention them.

Harry frowned at the reminder of his friend as they trudged in the hot desert. Hermione and Ron weren't writing back to him properly. He had been shunted aside at the Dursley's, totally cut off from the war effort. Wasn't he the one who had told them of Voldemort's return, wasn't he the one who faced the evil bastard?

Before his feelings of being cast aside could distract him, Harry refocused his emotions. He had been transported to some strange place without his wand. He needed to stay in control. The bloody sun laughing every few minutes was beginning to grate on Harry.

He watched Naruto from the corner of his eye, marveling at him keeping his jacket on. It was so hot that Harry had taken off his T-shirt and wrapped it around his head, leaving his body covered in a sweat-soaked under-vest. He didn't know what to think of the boy. He was involved somehow since he had been kidnapped just like him, but he wasn't a wizard of the same flavor as Harry himself. Harry had to wonder how they were connected.

A small part of him worried that he would be in even more trouble for breaking the Statute of Secrecy. "Hey, Naruto…don't mention to anyone I'm a wizard, ok? It's a secret, I'll get in trouble."

The shorter boy shot him a narrow eyed look then grinned. "Don't worry, I'm great at keeping secrets." He shrugged. "Don't know what the big deal is, not like you can do anything cool."

Harry resisted the urge to hit the boy. He was really easy going but sometimes he really was irritating. "Sorry to disappoint," Harry snapped sarcastically. It was a little annoying to find something as incredible as magic being shrugged off. They arrived at a paved road and soon saw a green sign with white lettering on it. "Death City?" Harry read out. "That's not ominous at all."

"Scary, this whole place is scary…didn't the mirror say something about calling death?" Naruto said in clipped tones.

"Yeah, something about knocking on death's door." Harry nodded. "Maybe the trap is in this city instead of out there in the desert."

Naruto punched the air in front of him. "Then we'll just have to sneak in and get them first." He rummaged in the pack he had around his leg and handed Harry two sharp dagger-like objects. "These are kunai, I hope you know how to use them."

Harry hefted the weight but he didn't know the first thing about blades, his experience with the Sword of Gryffindor notwithstanding. "No, but I'm glad to have them. Thanks."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you with my life," Naruto said quietly. Harry was taken aback at the sincerity he heard in the blond's voice. The few hours they had spent together had given him the impression that Naruto liked to brag but had little to back up his words.

"I'd rather you live. Let's just avoid trouble, if we don't draw attention to ourselves, that'll be best. Maybe later you can show me how to use these," Harry said with a smile.

"Ha! And then you can call me Naruto-sensei. I'll make you the best ninja there is!" Naruto jumped in excitement. "But not better than me, because I'm going to be Hokage."

By this point Harry was beginning to get used to Naruto's declarations and more or less ignored him. "Yeah it's a plan. Let's go."

As they neared the city both of them commented on how strange it looked. It looked like it was built around and on a hill. At the very top, even from far they could see a weird building with giant candles sticking out. Finally when they were at the entrance to the city and could see people going about their daily lives, Harry saw the seal. Hanging from a door was a welcome sign and on it was the comical skull.

He stared warily at the citizens but no one seemed to be paying them any mind. He wondered if it was one of them who had used the mirrors to bring them there. But they all looked like average everyday people. No Deatheater robes or masks greeted him, no one seemed to even notice them.

Harry noted that Naruto's hands and back were tensed, as if he was ready to leap into action any moment. The blond's eyes were scanning the crowd just like Harry's own were. Harry felt a burst of confidence in his companion, maybe Naruto really had some skills. "Let's go," Harry said.

Naruto nodded and began to lead. "We should stay in the middle of crowds, harder for people to attack us that way. But if they do, we should move away fast, I don't want to fight where civilians can get hurt," Naruto said.

"Yeah, I agree." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Naruto really was reliable.

(Scene break)

An hour later found them in the third ring from the bottom of the hill. They were both hungry, thirsty, and tired. Naruto was surprised to see Harry pulling on along him. Most people his age had less stamina than him, but he hadn't heard Harry complain yet. Naruto wondered if Harry trained or was just used to hardship.

"Walking around aimlessly isn't getting us anywhere," Harry griped, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts.

An old woman at a fruit stall overheard them and called out, "What are you? Stupid? Don't you see all the other kids going one way? Just follow them."

"Going where?" Harry asked.

"The Death Weapon Meister Academy, obviously. You're here for the entrance tests, aren't you? Geez, you freaks show up every few months. Go on, get!" The woman shooed.

"We're not-" Harry didn't get to finish what he was saying because Naruto had wrapped his hand around his mouth.

"Sorry, grandma, he's just a little slow. Thanks for the help!" Naruto waved and dragged Harry away.

"What was that for?" Harry snapped when they were a few feet away.

"That was our way to sneak in. I was curious about all the kids our age hanging around too. If we get into this academy, then everyone will think we're just students," Naruto explained with a grin.

Harry sighed, choosing not to ask if Naruto even knew what a Death Weapons Meister Academy was for. After all, they needed to find answers somewhere. A school might just be the place. Also, they would have public facilities and they could at least get water there.

"Hee, hee, my first solo mission," Naruto giggled beside him.

"It's not solo if I'm with you, Naruto."

"Shut up!"

(chapter break)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Naruto lead the charge up through the winding levels of Death City. Like him Harry tried to catch snippets of conversation from others around him of his age. He also paid attention to their surroundings. The cobblestone streets and wrought iron lamps along with shops selling latest technological gadgets created an odd atmosphere. Harry felt that even though there were so many muggle things around, there was something magical about the place. And to his constant suspicion the skull motif was everywhere.

They finally arrived at the base of the stairs leading up to the academy. Naruto stared at the hundreds of steps and cursed. "It better be awesome up there," he said to Harry who was standing next to him a little breathlessly. "Hey, do you want to take a break?"

Harry nodded, trying to catch his breath. "I'm beat, mate, but I'm hoping we can get some water up there."

Naruto patted Harry's shoulder. "Let's go, I hope there is food up there too."

(Scene Break)

They were halfway up the stairs, surrounded by other kids their age who were griping and gasping just as they were. In that moment of shared struggle they started forming connections. Some of them shared that they were 'mesiters' and others said they were 'weapons.' Harry sent Naruto a meaning-laden look when he heard this, and Naruto nodded in understanding: They would need to figure out soon what those terms meant.

As they climbed the near endless stairs a few of their fellows started falling by the wayside. Harry felt compelled to encourage the ones who looked like they were ready to give up. Naruto quickly picked up on this and with loud cheering corralled them into keep on going. Harry was taken aback by how much energy Naruto had to be a one man cheering squad. They both had covered the same distance, walked through the same desert, yet the blond looked only slightly worse for wear.

The noise of heels clacking came from behind them, making them turn to look. A girl with two pigtails came running up the stairs as if they were nothing. The ash blonde blew by the them and paused a minute by a small girl who was further up the stairs from Harry and Naruto. It sounded like she gave her some encouragement and continued running.

"What?!" Naruto shouted in surprise. "I can't let that girl beat me!" And he took off after the girl with a speed he hadn't shown before.

Harry and the others just stared after the boy in disbelief.

"I can't believe it, he's catching up to her." A boy whistled in awe. "Hey," he called to Harry. "You guys are friends, right? Does he have a partner yet?"

"Baka!" A girl snorted derisively. "Someone as strong as him has to be already taken."

Harry didn't volunteer any information and just kept walking up. He didn't know what he could say. Naruto and he were in the situation together, so it was logical to stick together. But their difference in strength might mean he'd find a different partner, for whatever a partner was needed for.

By the time they reached the top Harry was thoroughly wiped and a dopey looking girl was leaning on him. She'd gravitated to him after he kept saving her from getting turned around and going downstairs instead up the stairs. Harry had serious doubts about the spacey girl but she looked so lost he felt he had to help.

At the great landing on the top he found the small brunette who had been a little ahead of them with a can of juice. She was looking back the way they had come with a happy smile. Harry was more focused on the very strange building they had come upon. Several large skulls made up the walls of the structure with their teeth acting as pillars, towers rose up in the distance, and giant candles pointed out as if they were canons.

"Um, thank you…my name is…I think…Meme?" the girl leaning on Harry said.

Harry stopped himself from frowning at the girl's odd introduction. "You're welcome, I'm Harry. Hey, why don't you go sit with that girl?" Harry pointed to the small brunette who had beaten them to the top. Meme gave him a soft smile and meandered over to the other girl.

Harry sighed in relief and started looking for Naruto in the crowd of teenagers at the entrance of the academy. Soon the other boy's loud voice betrayed his location and Harry made his way over. He found him sitting on the low wall that ringed the courtyard. The pigtailed blonde who had blown by them was sitting by him with a smile on her face. Both of them were holding cans of juice. Harry felt his throat constrict at the site - he was dying of thirst.

"Oi! Harry, I saved you half!" Naruto waved him over when he caught sight of him. Harry found second wind and rushed to Naruto, grabbing the can and upending it in one smooth motion. Naruto didn't seem to mind his rude actions and went about introductions. "Ne, Maka, this is Harry, he's weird but he isn't afraid of anything. Harry this is Maka, she beat me up the stairs."

Harry nodded in way of greeting, taking a moment to observe the girl. Even in the heat she was wearing a long coat, under which she had a plaid skirt and what looked like a uniform shirt. The oddest thing about her were the boots with metal bands around them. She gave him a pleasant smile and a wave. "Nice to meet you, Harry-san, I'm Maka Albarn, Meister. Naruto didn't tell me if you're a weapon or a meister."

"Err…you see, we're not sure," Harry hedged, hoping it wasn't too odd an answer. He sat down, resting his back against the low wall.

"Didn't your family tell you growing up? Or you didn't notice it ever?" the young girl asked curiously.

"…I'm an orphan," Harry said, again hoping that was a safe answer.

"Me too! Me too!" Naruto added with too much cheer.

"Ah! Forgive me!" Maka suddenly stood and bowed to them.

"No, no, it's alright," Harry said, feeling embarrassed by her bowing. "But could you tell us more about all this, we're hoping to join the school."

The girl nodded vigorously and ran off confusing both Naruto and Harry. In another instant she was back holding a couple of brochures. She gave one each to both of them. He thanked her and despite being too tired to do any sort of reading he devoured the small pamphlet.

As he read sweat began beading on his forehead that had nothing to do with the heat. What he was reading was utterly shocking and incredible: It seemed there were humans who could transform into weapons, which were in turn wielded in combat by meisters against evil humans. Evil humans were those who killed and ate souls, and could turn into demons.

Harry read in disbelief that these 'weapon' humans also ate souls but only of evil beings. Harry read over the pamphlet more than once, trying to absorb the world shaking information. There was no way something like this wouldn't have been covered in Hogwarts. If nothing else he would have read about humans with the ability to eat souls in one of his Defense Against the Dark Arts books.

The pamphlet also said that the academy had been set up by the Death God; Harry equated him to a Grim Reaper. Harry felt a shiver at this piece of knowledge, it was terrifying if it were true. Unless it was all a very elaborate joke, Harry didn't think he was anywhere near what he knew to be real.

Maka was looking at him expectantly, her eyes very wide. Harry realized he must seem like a worrying sight. He looked at Naruto, wondering how he was taking everything, but the boy was absorbed in the pamphlet. Unable to take Maka's anxious look any longer, he began talking, "Ah, well, self-transfiguration is a very high level skill. I haven't been taught that yet. Besides, I don't think I could eat souls. I'm probably a meister."

Maka grinned at him happily. "But, Harry-san, if you can learn to transform, that means you're a weapon. I've never heard it called self-transfiguration, though. Don't worry they will teach you at the academy." She looked over at Naruto, and Harry noticed that the boy was looking very pale and wide-eyed. "What about you, Naruto? Do you think you can transform or are you a meister?"

Naruto started a little at being spoken to, apparently stunned by what he had read. He smiled suddenly, pretending to be unaffected and laughed. "I'm not like Harry." He gave Harry a superior look. "Tsk! What are you good for? I can transform into any weapon that I want. Don't worry, Naruto-sensei will teach you how."

Harry blinked slowly in surprise at the blond. "You can do self-transfiguration? Are you some sort of genius?"

Surprisingly Naruto blushed at Harry's outburst. He jumped off the wall and motioned him to stand. "Ok, get ready," Naruto said. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke and in the next moment something fell in Harry's hands. When the smoke cleared Harry found himself holding a fuma-shuriken. The weapon easily spanned four feet tip to tip.

"That's amazing!" Maka exclaimed. "You said you can become other weapons, what else can you do?" Another cloud burst appeared and Harry found himself holding two kunai, another burst and he was holding a katana. "I can't believe it," Maka said, echoing Harry's silent sentiment. "You're just like Tsubaki-chan, she can turn into multiple ninja weapons too."

"I'm not done yet!" Naruto's voice came from somewhere and he erupted in a much bigger cloud of smoke. Harry felt the weight in his hands suddenly quadruple. With great effort he help up Naruto's latest form. It looked like a giant cleaver at least five feet in length. And it was orange with a blue blade edge. To Harry's relief Naruto transformed back into human soon after his latest form.

"Show off," Harry muttered, massaging his aching arms. A half circle of onlookers had gathered around them who Harry hadn't noticed. They were all making noises of appreciation and Naruto was drinking the praise in.

Maka giggled next to him. "Guess I know which class he will be in. I think Tsubaki will like having another multi-weapon around."

"There are different classes?" Harry asked, gratefully taking the can of juice Maka was offering him. Naruto looked to be busy making friends with the crowd so he was free to chat with the younger girl.

Maka sat down next to him. "Yes, there is the 'EAT' class, standing for Especially Advanced Talent," she began to lecture, "And there is the 'NOT' class, Normally Overcome Target class. They aren't expected to take part in combat as much at the EAT class."

"Got it. So you think Naruto will be in the EAT class…he's pretty strong and he can already transform," Harry said. Inside he cursed at losing his wand; if he had that he would be strong as well.

"Ne, Harry-san, do you have martial arts training? If you will be Naruto's meister you will need to know how to fight," she asked.

Harry sighed in disappointment. "No, I don't.

"But, Naruto said you had been in battles and you have scars," she said pointing to the one on his forehead and the ones on his arms.

Harry forced down his anger at Naruto revealing information he had casually mentioned on their trek to the city. "I…used to be able to fight in a way that didn't need a lot of physical power," he began to weave the half-truth. "But I lost the ability recently."

"I'm sorry, Harry-san, I keep asking about painful things." She bowed her head to him again. "May I ask what kind of fighting style you had?"

Harry raised a brow at the girl's temerity at apologizing to him for being nosy and asking him more in the same breath. "It's hard to explain…" he said. He tried to buy time to think of something, "By the way, my name is Harry, not Harry-san."

"Then, I'm just Maka too, friends?" she said with a smile.

"Er, yeah," Harry said, wondering what she meant by 'just Maka too,' he knew she was Maka.

"So?" Maka pressed. "What kind of fighting style did you know?"

"Well, it was an energy manipulation type, I guess," Harry hedged.

"Ha!" Maka slapped a fist in her open palm. "Energy manipulation! The academy teaches using soul energy. Don't worry, Harry, there are those types of weapons here, maybe you can partner with one," she reported happily. "In fact my fa-…nevermind. Well I've got to go." She stood up as abruptly as her good mood had changed to grim.

"Oh, alright. Well, thanks for everything, Maka." Harry waved as she smiled and rushed off. _Something is off about her relationship with her father then, _he noted without too much interest. There were more important matters on his mind.

Firstly, that he was in a place where the Grim Reaper interacted with humans and trained soldiers for himself. Secondly, that this place could teach him to use the power of his soul in a fight. He was unsure about the former, but the latter made him excited that he could soon learn not to be helpless without his wand.

(Scene break)

Unbeknownst to any of the teenagers gathering in the courtyard they were surrounded by three star meisters and weapons. Sid was, seemingly, casually leaning against a pillar. His weapon partner was in her knife form, being twirled around Sid's fingers. His eyes were following a pattern of keeping check on the newcomers, looking at his fellow meisters for any sign that they had noticed trouble, and then back to Maka.

A harmless sounding request from Sid to Maka had ensured that the conscientious girl made herself available to field any questions the new students may have. A slight nudge was enough to get her to focus on the blond one of the pair who had necessitated the urgent security roll out at the academy. Sid had watched carefully as the brunette of the pair had joined Maka and the other boy.

He knew that the other teams had their eyes on them as well. One untoward action and they were going to swoop in. Sid hoped that the Death Scythe knew what he was doing when he had told them all to hold their positions, while he spoke with Shinigami-sama. Sid truly hoped he wasn't seeing trouble brewing, the soul wavelength of those two boys… It made him apprehensive.

He saw one of his fellow Meisters make a quick step forward as if she was going to move in. Sid's snapped his eyes back to Maka and saw that she was leaving the two. He signaled to the other meister who signaled back an 'all-ok.' Sid waved to Maka. "Yo, Maka!"

She jogged up to him and Sid put a hand on her shoulder to bring her closer, so he could speak quietly. "What can you tell me about those two?"

"They want to join the school, Sid-sensei. I think Naruto will be in EAT level, he's the one who was showing weapon forms," Maka reported rapid fire.

"And the other one? Is he his meister already?" Sid asked.

Maka shook her head. "No, I think Harry is a weapon too. He said he hadn't learned transformation. But he should be capable since it sounded like he just hadn't been taught yet." Maka looked back at them over her shoulder. "They're orphans, sensei, I hope they can join. Will you be testing them?" She gave him a hopeful look.

"Err," Sid began, trying to figure out what to say. He could hardly tell her that most meisters there were one step away from suppressing the two.

"Yes, Maka, your Papa has just begged Shinigami-sama to let his sweet daughter's friends sit for the entrance test," Spirit's exuberant voice broke in suddenly.

"Really? Thanks! If I didn't have a weapon partner I would try to partner with Naruto." Maka gave a happy smile to her father and flounced off.

Sid knew if he wanted any information he had to head off Spirit's victory dance at seeing Maka acknowledge him. "So, senpai, what's the news?" he asked, and spared the red head next to him a quick glance. Sid was relieved to see that Spirit had his serious face on.

"Order everyone to stand down. It's as I told Maka, those boys will try for admission just as the others who have shown up will. Except, of course, the ones who we have already admitted," Spirit said.

At Spirit's words, Sid's weapon, Mira, flew out of his hand and became human again. "Spirit-senpai," she began, "Are you certain of this? The blond's wavelength can become particularly chaotic, and the green-eyed boy's wavelength is worrying...because the size it implies is staggering."

Spirit shrugged. "I told Shinigami-sama the same things, Mira, Sid. But he reminded me that we don't punish people for simply having bigger souls than we expect them to. If nothing else it means those two have great potential. Don't you have a student, Sid, who has a far stronger soul than is normal for his age?"

Sid nodded, feeling like he had been scolded. "Yes, Black Star. If the kid worked hard he could be the strongest meister in his class."

"While that is true," Mira cut in with a hard edge to her words, "Black Star's soul wavelength doesn't make all our soul perceivers prepare for battle instinctively. Something is off about those two, Lord Death Scythe." She spoke his formal title, as if to remind him of his responsibility.

Spirit's usual goofy countenance was totally alien to the hard face Sid saw. "We have our orders, Mesiter, Weapon. Lord Death did not seem surprised to see the two, which means he was aware of their arrival. We will all trust in Shinigami-sama."

"Yes, sir," Sid and Mira intoned simultaneously. Mira signaled a stand-down order to other meisters and weapons.

Sid pushed off the pillar he was standing against and somersaulted into the courtyard. This drew everyone's attention and all conversations stopped. "Listen up!" Sid projected his voice. "All of you here who have already been admitted, go with Nygus Mira. These are the people who sent us their applications at the beginning of school year last year."

At this the great majority of the students split off following the dark skinned woman to begin their orientation. Sid noticed that Spirit had walked up to join him, perhaps the man was going to be one of the proctors of the hopefuls. "Alright, the rest of you here are the ones hoping that you can be admitted despite us rejecting you when you applied or showing up without applying hoping to get in." He paused to let the fear of failing set in. Then in a cheerful voice yelled, "Welcome! I like guts, that's the type of man I am. So to see so many of you showing up without any guarantee to get in makes me happy."

"And since you're that type of man, Sid-sensei. Why don't you give these hopefuls a night to rest and put them through the trenches of death tomorrow?" Spirit said with a grin.

Sid had been planning that as well but he understood what was going on. Spirit wanted to make sure that Harry and Naruto had a good shot of getting admitted. The way Harry looked, Sid was sure a four year old could beat him up. "Excellent idea, Lord Death Scythe." There was a flurry of awed whispers from the teenagers at hearing they were in the presence of a death scythe.

Sid looked over at one of the candles where a meister was crouched and motioned to him. "Follow him to our guest quarters. You will be fed and given a place to rest. Tomorrow when the sun rises, I better find you back here for your test. Anyone late loses their chance to be a meister or weapon."

"Hai!" the gathered teenagers yelled, and began following the meister Sid had pointed out.

When the courtyard cleared Spirit spoke again, "Sid, those two will pass the test tomorrow. Make sure of it."

Sid ground his teeth. "I don't like cheating. Even though it's true that we never turn a weapon away since they can't exist in society normally without our help."

"These are orders, Sid. If they aren't good enough, we can just put them in NOT class and train them till they make the standard. Don't worry, I will be here tomorrow too, I have a little test in mind for Harry and Naruto." Spirit smiled mischievously. "I'm curious about those two just like you guys are. What is Shinigami-sama hiding about them, that's what I'd like to know."

"Heh, you're right about that," Sid chuckled. "You had me scared with your strict act, senpai."

Spirit shrugged and raised a hand to wave goodbye as he walked away. "We all have our roles to play, see ya."

(scene break)

Harry was lying in bed in the 'guest quarters' and wondered how many prisoners had been in the room before him. Naruto had pulled a bed into the room, so they could be in the same place. For a long time they had simply relaxed after eating and napping most of the day away. It was late night and a rain storm outside had awoken Naruto, which lead to Naruto waking up Harry soon after.

Naruto fidgeted on his bed, trying to figure out how to ask his question. He was afraid Harry would make fun of him again. His newfound friend was weird and hadn't been scared of a sun with teeth and a creepy smile after all. The insecurity about himself was making Naruto irritated, so in his usual manner he blurted it out, "Harry, are you scared of the Shinigami?"

Harry was frowning and looked to be in thought. "Not really, I guess. The worse he can do is kill us, right?"

Naruto was stunned, he couldn't believe it, was Harry just trying to be cool or was he for real? "But we're at his school…did you read that thing? It said he taught students to fight and eat evil souls. He right here, in this castle!" Naruto clenched the bed sheet in his hands, trying to control himself. The thought was eating at him and he wanted…someone, a parent, or Kakashi-sensei, to tell him it was alright.

"Hey, Naruto," Harry said. "Where I come from…I had enemies…they were called Death Eaters."

Naruto gasped, "They _ate_ death!"

"No," Harry snapped. "That's the point."

"Eh?" Naruto scratched his head. "What's the point?"

Harry sighed and sat up in his bed as well. "Look, sometimes people want to make themselves sound dangerous, so they give themselves a scary name. The Death Eaters, don't eat death, they're human. Very bad humans…but, you know, normal."

"Oh! So you're saying someone is just calling themselves shinigami?" Naruto breathed in relief. "I get it, I get it. My team fought this enemy ninja who was called Demon of the Mist, but he wasn't a demon, he was a human too."

Harry was smiling and nodding. "Yeah, it might be just like that. But it looks like they are serious about eating souls…so we should be careful either way."

"What if it is the death god?" Naruto whispered. "What do we do then?"

"We're trying to figure out how we got here and how we can get back. If it really is the death god…then maybe he's the one who brought us here. We just have to find out why?" Harry said, talking to both himself and Naruto.

"Hmm." Naruto frowned and crossed his arms in his thinking pose. "But what would he want with me. He already at the old man's soul, and…" he suddenly trailed off, realizing he was talking aloud and he couldn't say what was on his mind.

Unfortunately for him, Harry noticed. "Ate which old man's soul and what?"

Naruto squirmed. "My grandfather…well he was like a grandfather to me. He made a deal with the shinigami for his help to defeat this really powerful, freaky, ninja. The price was his soul."

Harry had his mouth slightly open, which Naruto was glad to see. So there was _something_ out there that surprised his fearless friend. "Are you serious?" Harry demanded.

"Hey! I don't lie!" Naruto protested immediately, and then regretted it when his loud voice echoed in the sparse dungeon room.

"I don't even know how to try and understand that," Harry said, shaking his head. "But that has nothing to do with what the shinigami would want from you. You didn't make a deal, did you?"

Naruto squirmed again and let out a nervous laugh. "O-of course not!" He was _not_ about to tell Harry that there was a demon in his gut who the shinigami might want to kill. After all didn't the pamphlet say that the weapons ate evil souls before they could become demons? He noticed Harry looking at him suspiciously, so went on the attack. "What about you, did you make a deal?"

"No," Harry denied immediately, then became thoughtful. "But…he may be pissed at me."

"Whoa! What did you do?" Naruto asked, leaning forward in his bed so far than another bit and he would fall to the floor.

Harry waved his hand as if to brush away that suggestion. "When I was a baby, I survived something I shouldn't have. Some say I cheated death. Maybe he's getting his due from me now. If he is, then this is a really weird way to do it."

"Ha," Naruto chuckled. "You would know weird, you're the weirdest person I know. But how did you cheat death, was it some awesome jutsu? Can you teach me? Please, please!"

Harry started laughing at his friend's antics. "No, I can't teach you. I don't know what happened. The man who tried to kill me is the second most powerful, well I guess _you_ would call him 'ninjutsu' user, in the world. He used a 'jutsu' on me that can't be stopped or blocked, and you can't recover from it. It's instant death. It's called the killing curse."

Naruto was drawn into the story, he was already imagining a tall, powerfully built ninja, working through a long string of seals to attack Harry. "But you survived, must not be a very good jutsu."

Harry sighed and shook his head. "You don't get it, Naruto, I'm the only one who has ever survived it. No one in history has. Do you see?"

Naruto quieted and thought about it. He didn't think that Harry lied to him, something about the boy made Naruto trust him. And he _was_ strange, the way he didn't find freaky things odd. So maybe all he said was true. "So…the shinigami was expecting your soul, but you escaped?" Naruto whispered at long last.

Harry shrugged and said, "I guess, if that's the way things work."

Naruto rubbed his head in frustration. "Ma, this is too troublesome!" And then he began laughing.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Nothing, I have a lazy friend who always says 'troublesome.'" Naruto grinned.

"He'd be right about our situation, this is too troublesome. But Naruto, don't worry about it too much. I'm sure if he wanted to kill us, he would have done it by now. If we really are in the shinigami's school, and he really did bring us here, then it's not just to murder us."

"Yeah, you're right. I just wanted to make sure you weren't scared or anything." Naruto said with a wide smile.

He got an amused smile back from Harry. "I'm going to sleep now. I don't have energy like you do. I want to be as ready as I can be for tomorrow."

"We'll blow through the test. And after that I can show you how to use chakra and kunai." Naruto gave a thumbs up and laid back in bed.

_Chakra?_ Harry thought to himself as sleep began to take him. _Hermione mentioned something about that once._

(scene break)

The next day found Harry and Naruto with the two dozen or so hopefuls at the entrance of the academy. Just as the sun lazily rose into the sky, yawning loudly, and scaring Naruto, Sid appeared.

Naruto looked at the muscled man with cornrows excitedly. He was raring to get to the test. The man looked pretty tough so he hoped he'd get a chance to fight him. He grinned at Harry who was looking much better that morning. Naruto had confidence in his new friend since he'd lasted so well through their trek in the desert. He was pretty sure Harry would come through any challenge. "Ready?" Naruto asked putting out his fist. Harry bumped Naruto's fist with his own and said, "You bet."

"Alright, sit down on the ground. I'm going to pass out clipboards for you to write your exam on," Sid announced. He motioned a girl toward a stack of clipboards, who started handing them out to others.

"Damn it," Harry cursed. "I thought this was going to be a different type of test."

"I hate written tests!" Naruto yelled next to him, sweating bullets.

"Nothing for it, let's sit and get this over with. I'm still amazed I can read everything even though it's in different writing," Harry said, plopping down where he had been standing.

"Maybe it's magic," Naruto said cheekily.

"It definitely is, which gives me hope," Harry said.

"QUIET!" Sid shouted. "As soon as you have a clipboard, pen, and exam, start on it. No more talking."

(scene break)

Harry was staring at the exam anxiously. There were questions about history of Death Weapon Meister Academy and Lord Death. There were questions about the political make up of the great national powers of the world, and the role of weapons and meisters in them. There was no way he was passing any of these.

So given what he did in his Divination classes, Harry began making things up. Thankfully there were some mathematics questions on the test and they were mostly simple enough that he could do them. Then he came to a section of questions which seemed to have to do with ethics. Here Harry felt more comfortable because it looked like most of them just wanted his opinion. He shot Naruto a glance to find his friend's exam nearly crumpled in his hands. Harry winced at the lost expression on the boy's face, but he couldn't do anything to help. Secretly he hoped that Naruto's display of transformation the day before would get him into the academy even without good scores.

(scene break)

Naruto was swearing up and down in his mind that he would start studying more because feeling panicked at every written exam was wearing him down. He wrote some nonsense where he could and hoped for the best.

"Alright, turn in your tests. We're heading over to the grounds to test your physical abilities," Sid called out.

Naruto leapt up from where he was on the ground, thrusting a fist in the sky. "Yosh! I'll kick ass on the physical. I'll pass, just you see!"

A clipboard came flying at him thrown like a Frisbee and clocked him on the head. "Ouch, what was that for, bastard!" Naruto swore.

"It was funny," Sid said with a grin. "Follow me."

(scene break)

Sid glanced at Naruto and Harry's tests briefly and sighed inside. Just seeing all the questions left blank he knew neither of them wouldn't be passing that portion. Hopefully their physical abilities would be so outstanding that he wouldn't feel bad about passing them. Though, technically both had been classified as weapons, so it their admission was guaranteed unless they had criminal records.

He took out a clipboard with a table of the hopefuls' names and different exercises they were going to run through. "Go ahead, Mira," Sid said, nodding to his weapon partner. Mira split the group by gender and started calling them in fives to begin the tests.

Sid waited as she organized the kids, prepared to rate them. Naruto, he noted looked excited and full of confidence. Harry had a focused look about him as well. _Good,_ he thought, _they understand they need to do better on this portion_. Someone brushed against him as they came to stand by him. Sid looked down to find one of the new girls in the NOT class, Meme. "What're you doing here, Meme?"

"I came to see…someone?" she answered, clasping the sleeves of her shirt in her hands.

"What? You don't remember?" another girl appeared, the blonde Anya. "Didn't you say he was the senpai who helped you yesterday?"

"You don't have any seniors here, Meme, these are the ones who showed up hoping to be admitted. But if you're looking for the boy who helped you, his name is Harry. He's in line for the 100m race."

There was a shout behind them making Sid turn to see more people arriving. "Jeez, this isn't a party. What are all of you doing here?" he addressed the group lead by Maka running up.

"Did we miss anything, Sid-sensei?" Maka said as she arrived in a cloud of dust.

"No, but I am about to if you don't let me focus on testing these brats. How the hell did you get Soul and Black Star to wake up for this?" he asked.

"Well, I wanted to get Tsubaki-chan so she could see Naruto, but I knew if I left and didn't wake up Soul he'd be late for school, and then Tsubaki wouldn't leave without-" Maka's long explanation was cut off by Sid raising a hand to stop her.

"I don't really care that much. Go sit on the benches and stay out of the way. Take these juniors with you," Sid said turning away from the group. Mira was giving him an exasperated look. He motioned her to start with a sheepish smile.

(scene break)

Sid was grinning in anticipation; the Naruto boy had totally blown away the test. Asked to do a high jump, he had cleared the bar while twirling four foot off of it. Asked to do a long jump, he had cleared the sand pit. He had lead in all the races. Sid could pass him without feeling like he was just passing him on orders. The boy belonged in the EAT level easily, his physical prowess matched or exceeded most in that level. He was already popular with the crowd and had gotten himself minor star status. The thought made Sid cringe, he could just imagine what Black Star would have to say about that.

Harry was more of a mixed bag. He had kept pace middle of the pack in the 100 meter, and been part of the leading bunch in the 800m. While that showed his stamina was good, it also showed he needed to work on strength. The jumps were lack luster for him. Unfortunately, anyone who had applied formally in NOT could beat him in physical fitness. It wasn't enough to pass him…but there was the matter of his soul wavelength, which was something they didn't test usually.

He glanced over at Spirit who had shown up and was sitting by Maka. Sid hoped that Spirit had a test that Harry could do well in. Although, Sid was happy to see Harry struggling through without complaint. The boy had a good attitude, and in Sid's book that mattered a lot.

"Spirit-senpai, I'm done, if you're ready with your test we can begin," Sid called out.

"Hai, Hai," the man said cheerfully and jumped off the benches to land next to Sid. The redhead was dressed casually that morning in a white T-shirt and jeans, forgoing the usual suit with the cross tie. "Alright, everyone, I will be checking your soul wavelength. Let's all line up…girls first!"

Sid pretended not to notice Spirit's perverted behavior and simply changed sheets on his clipboard. This one only had the hopefuls' names and whether they were weapon or meister. He figured Spirit was going to tell him what to write down on the blank space next to their names.

The boys and girls were dirty with sweat and dirt. Some looked hopeful and others like they already knew they were going home. Spirit went up to the first girl in line and put a hand on her head. He closed his eyes as he concentrated. She had decent strength for her age. "Soul size: pass; recommend: NOT class," Spirit said and Sid made a notation. Although he knew that Spirit's evaluation didn't matter in her case, she was a weapon and would be given admission regardless. They couldn't in good conscience send someone off without teaching them how to control their dangerous powers.

It was in this manner that Spirit and Sid walked down the line. In Sid's opinion it was clever of Spirit to disguise his desire to check on Naruto and Harry this way. With some excitement he noted that Harry was next. Spirit made a show of recognizing Harry. "Ah, Harry, is it? My daughter told me about you," Spirit said loudly. "She said you might be good at some sort of energy manipulation."

"Err, yes, sir," Harry answered. "I don't know if it's soul energy."

"Well, do you mind if we test you for it? Say an extra credit. Between you and me, you could use the extra marks if you want any chance to make it in here," Spirit said so loudly that it was clear that it wasn't just between them. Sid watched Harry flush in embarrassment but refused to feel bad for the boy. Spirit's underhanded tactic was necessary to draw him out.

"Sure, sir, what do you want me to do?" Harry said.

Spirit grinned and took a few long steps back, motioning him over. "Just hold me," he said.

"What?" Harry demanded, as he left the line. Sid signaled the other children to move back, having an idea of what Spirit was about to do.

Spirit transformed in his scythe form and jumped in Harry's hand. Sid watched Harry drop Spirit with a groan and offered some advice, "You have to breathe together with your weapon, Harry. You have to understand his will and make him understand yours."

Harry gave him a nonplussed look. "Um, what do you mean, sir?"

"For now, just trust Spirit-sensei to protect you," Sid encouraged.

"Come on, I don't want to lie here all day. Pick me up!" Spirit shouted from his Scythe form.

Without thinking Harry swung his arm out letting it hover over the scythe and ordered, "Up!" Just as a broom, the scythe jumped to his hand. Harry quickly grasped it with both hands, eyes wide in wonder.

(scene break)

Spirit went to work quickly, reading the boy's soul and reaching towards what he had felt the day before. There was something dark in his soul, it felt like a living wound. Spirit reached it and his first thought was that it was another soul besides the boy's. He tentatively reached it and a wave of sickness enveloped him. It felt like hate and despair mixed in one and disturbingly it was powerful too.

Spirit pulled away from the soul wound and quickly immersed himself in the healthy portion of the soul. It felt completely different than the wound and any other soul he had examined before. Something about its very nature was different than any other meister or weapon's. It felt like he was touching both at the same time, a meister's soul, a weapon's soul, yet something else as well. And then to complete his test, he amplified the boy's soul resonance.

(scene break)

Sid had Mira in her weapon form in his hand. The clipboard lay at his feet where he had dropped it. Harry was lost in a trance as he held the death scythe, but there was a frightening wavelength coming off him which had frozen everything in a six feet radius around him. That was when Mira had launched herself at Sid, arming him with her.

The dark wavelength disappeared as quickly as it had come, before any of the students or the hopefuls could feet it. But Sid and Mira were still wary.

"Oi! What's happening? What is he doing to Harry?" Naruto shouted, leaving his place in line.

"Stay back!" Sid ordered. "Everything is under control."

Suddenly Harry raised the scythe in the air and a wave of red and golden light erupted toward the sky. It barely missed the sun, who frowned down at them and growled. "Holy shit! That's the level of the boy's soul radiation?" Sid yelled in surprise.

Harry was staring at the scythe in amazement. "This-is-incredible!" he chortled. He brought the scythe down so it was parallel to the ground and mounted it like a broom.

"What the Hell are you doing, Harry?" Naruto asked.

Harry looked over his shoulder at him with a full smile. "Proving to you that I wasn't joking about what I can do."

The Death Scythe grew metal wings from its side, making its original blade look like the tail of a jet, and from its end an afterburner materialized. Harry angled the scythe toward the sky as golden fire shot out of the afterburner and launched them in the air. Over the roar of the fire they heard Harry's laughter as he rocketed to the clouds on the Death Scythe.

"Whoa!'

"Look at him go!"

"Man, I didn't think he had it in him!"

"They're so fast, it sounds like a scream!"

"So that's the power of a Death Scythe!"

"He made Papa fly?! But even Mama couldn't do that!"

"Hey, don't witches fly?"

"You idiot, witches are girls, besides do you think they'd let a witch in here?'

"That's my partner! He's afraid of nothing! Look at him go! I knew he would kick ass! Dattebayo!"

"How dare he act like a bigger star than me!"

"Damn, I feel out-cooled."

Sid ignored the cluster of students around him in undisguised awe. He watched as the boy circled the academy in five seconds flat, gradually increasing the speed so he seemed a blur. Then he shot in the air and nosedived as stream of red and golden light followed him. "Little bastard is like a comet…oh…is he gonna pull up?" Sid wondered out loud.

"Shit! Scatter! He's going to crash!" someone shouted, starting a pandemonium.

In the blink of an eye Harry and Spirit were upon them. Sid could only watch in terror. At the last moment Harry pulled up the scythe, almost grazing the field with his feet before he shot up again. Wind threw Sid off his feet from Harry and Spirit's passage. He went hurtling into the bleachers where most of the students had run off to.

By the time Sid was helped up, Harry was floating down on the Death Scythe. Spirit had apparently materialized more afterburners which were turned towards the ground, helping him hover and land. Everyone who had run away took to the field again. Harry dismounted, his hair windswept and a large smile on his face. Spirit transformed back into human and promptly fell to his knees.

"Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, again. Oh, sweet earth, I love you, I will never leave you, I promise!" Spirit was mumbling to himself as he literally kissed the earth.

Naruto ran and tackled Harry to the ground. "Why didn't you tell me you could do that? That was awesome!"

"Get off, you git!" Harry pushed the blond off himself. "And, thanks." He found himself surrounded by students all telling him how incredible that had been. Several weapons offered to be his partners right away, presuming he was a meister. After a while he noticed a familiar weight on his side and turned to see who he had missed in the press of his fans. It was the same girl he had helped yesterday and she was holding on to the sleeve of his shirt. "Oh, hi, Meme, didn't see you there."

The brown haired girl nodded with a shy smile. "I forgot I was here too…you were really cool."

"Thanks, but really it's Spirit-sensei. He's awesome!" Harry cheered sincerely.

"I think you broke him," Mira interrupted them and nodded her head toward Spirit's form clutching the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked, noting that Maka was sitting next to Spirit, patting his back.

"He says he's afraid of heights," Mira offered and then burst out in laughter. The laughter was infectious and soon everyone but Spirit had joined her.

Sid helped Spirit stand, putting the scythe's arm over his own shoulders. "Alright, the tests are over. Harry, go with Meme to the NOT class. After this display it's obvious you need to focus on basics. Spirit-senpai is going to need therapy and I have broken ribs."

"Hey, hey! What about me?" Naruto shouted just as others joined in asking how they had done.

Mira took over for Sid as her meister partner began trudging away. "Naruto, you're the only one going to EAT level. Maka, he's under your care, catch him up. We don't have an EAT class starting this session so he will have to join the current one. The rest of you, come with me as I go over your results."

(scene break)

When they were a safe distance away from all the students, Sid asked his question, "Spirit-senpai, did you discover the secret?"

Spirit was still woozy and nauseated but he nodded. "I think…for the first time since the Grim Times…we have a sorcerer joining our ranks."

Sid froze in his steps. "You're kidding. A Master of the Path of Demon?"

"Shh!" Spirit hissed. "Only Shinigami-sama can confirm that one hundred percent. But my theory explains why he would want to keep what Harry is quiet and why he would be interested in him."

Sid began walking again. "One of the Powerful Eight was a sorcerer. To have the power of a sorcerer on our side again would be incredible, but many don't trust sorcerers."

"We will keep it a secret," Spirit said. "He's just a kid, and he's suffered… Someone tried to tear out his soul."

Sid didn't let his shock stop him this time and kept walking. "Is that what you found first? That dark soul wave?"

"Yes, a sentient soul wound. We will have to watch out for it. Let's stop talking about it now, we're close to the cafeteria," Spirit said.

Sid smirked, "Congratulations on your new comet jet ability, your wife will be jealous she wasn't here to see it."

Spirit's face turned green. "Please don't remind me of that nightmare."

Sid chuckled as he turned into the hallway for the medical wing. It was going to be an interesting year.

(End)

A.N. If you haven't read Soul Eater Not, do so. Some portions of this story tie into the Soul Eater side story. So you will need to know the characters from that. Hope you liked what's here so far.


End file.
